The Stem Cell Institute’s Executive Director Brock C. Reeve says he hopes that the Stem Cell Institute will be part of the plan in Allston, at least in the long term, but adds that “there are many unknowns at the moment.”
Reeve says he does not know whether the Stem Cell Institute would fit into a co-developed Science Complex.
“In theory, yes, we’re open to it, but in practice it depends with whom and how,” Reeve says.
TANGLED UP IN COMMUNITY RELATIONS
The City of Boston and the Allston community, anxious to get the development process back on track, nevertheless hold Harvard to its original promise of building a vibrant community across the Charles. Support for a potential experiment in co-development comes with conditions attached.
Allston Neighborhood Coordinator Daniel Roan writes in an e-mail that the City of Boston would be “open” to the idea so long as it promotes “the development of well planned and financially sound development in Allston that expands economic opportunity, improves the quality of life for the neighborhood and increases housing choice.”
Allston residents, while excited about the prospect of progress, remain wary of allowing a large biotech company to set up shop on what would have been the Allston campus.
“If they’re bringing in partners, commercial partners, I worry that some of these publicly-motivated design concepts may drop away,” Allston resident Brent Whelan says, referring to the original plan to integrate the Science Complex into the community with coffee shops, public atrium spaces, and even a small science museum.
As Harvard explores new plans—which must be approved by city regulators—it must contend with a tarnished reputation among the Allston community.
Allston residents say they have been largely kept out of the decision-making process and know little about the proposal, though Harvard-Allston Task Force members were invited to the information session at the Business School.
Since the halt of construction on the Science Complex, the Task Force has not held a public meeting—though one was announced last week for June 7—and the Work Team has only met once with the Task Force to discuss the future of Allston.
“We’ve basically been frozen out,” Whelan says, noting that a much higher level of dialogue existed before construction came to a stop.
But some residents say that a chance to reexamine the plans, which would be required by the city, might be beneficial.
“Time is a good generator of creative ideas,” says Allston resident Tim McHale, adding that he hopes that a completed Science Complex “would bring new energy to the community.”
Recognizing concerns from all parties affected by construction in Allston, Hyman says he nonetheless remains “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for co-development. But administrators emphasize the need to maintain a long view of the project’s future.
“As you make determinations, you really have to make sure you’re making the right decisions in the long term, as well as the near term, because these are ones that you’re going to live with as an institution and as a neighborhood for many years to come,” Purcell says.
—William N. White contributed to the reporting of this story.
—Staff writer Sofia E. Groopman can be reached at segroopm@fas.harvard.edu.